DHAKA: Nine years after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were forced from their homes and across the border into Bangladesh, their return to Myanmar seems as distant as ever, but for many the hope of seeing their land again is what keeps them going. Mohammed Aansar was working as a high school teacher in Myanmar’s Rakhine State when his family had to leave everything behind to escape a military crackdown that began on Aug. 25, 2017. “Life in my village was comfortable and stable. I had a home, land and other property, a motorbike, cattle, and poultry,” he told Arab News.

Nine years after the Rohingya were driven from Myanmar, claims of progress on refugee returns have revived talk of repatriation.

Nine years after the Rohingya were driven from Myanmar, most fleeing to Bangladesh, repatriation is back in focus. But violence in Rakhine state remains.